Woodside invests in low-carbon research facility

Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy has joined forces with Monash
University to
develop a state-of-the-art ‘living laboratory’ and long-term research
partnership to support Australia’s low-carbon energy transition.

Woodside will
contribute $16.5 million to the construction of the Woodside Building for
Technology and Design, located in the Monash Technology Precinct. The Precinct
houses Australia’s largest concentration of research institutions and leading
engineering companies.

The building is due for completion in
early 2020. It will be one of the world’s most efficient and innovative teaching
facilities, and through the partnership, Monash and Woodside will explore the
possibilities of hydrogen and carbon abatement, with a focus on materials,
electro-chemical and thermal chemical research.

Woodside and Monash will also jointly
invest more than $40 million into the ongoing research partnership over the
next seven years.

The Woodside Building for Technology and Design and Woodside Monash Energy Partnership will build on the foundation FutureLab collaboration, established by Woodside at Monash in 2015.

Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO said the new building and the growth of the Woodside-Monash Energy Partnership would greatly improve Australia’s capacity to find new solutions in sustainable energy technology, and that it would quickly build a reputation as a leading centre for innovation.

“With generous support from Woodside, we
are excited to see the next iteration of FutureLab take shape. This will be a
place where industry interacts with students, researchers and academics to
produce job-ready graduates and provide solutions to some of the biggest
challenges in our future. In partnership, we are committed to leading the world
with our research and study programs to achieve sustainable, positive change,”
Professor Gardner said.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the new
research partnership would deepen a proven relationship.

“Woodside and Monash share a commitment to developing innovative
responses to real-world challenges and we recognise that finding a sustainable
path to a lower-carbon economy is one of the biggest we face. This challenge
can only be solved by companies like Woodside, which is applying disruptive
data-driven technologies to our operations, working with the best and brightest
minds at universities such as Monash.

“Our goal through the Woodside Monash Energy Partnership is
ambitious but is grounded in reality. It is not simply about shifting to a
low-carbon future, but about ensuring that future is achievable and sustainable
for industry and for a resource-rich nation like Australia by maintaining a
strong economy and the employment that goes with it. We think natural gas,
renewables and ultimately hydrogen are all part of the answer to this challenge
and we look forward to working with Monash on multiple prongs of the energy
transition,” he said.

Woodside’s investment meets a key aim under Monash’s Change it. For Good. philanthropy campaign to accelerate the scale and success of the university’s international research to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.

“Our legacy needs to be one that both our
children and our grandchildren are proud that their parents gave to them and
that opportunity is now, so we think there is a will to act, the time is now,
and we need to start having good policy debate,” he said.